Title :

Voters’ Knowledge of Their Representatives: The Direct and Conditioned Effects of Parliamentary Work

Author(s) :

François, Abel [Auteur]
Lille économie management - UMR 9221 [LEM]
Navarro, Julien [Auteur]
Université catholique de Lille [UCL]

Journal title :

Swiss Political Science Review. Revue suisse de sciences politiques

Publisher :

Swiss Political Science Association

Publication date :

2020-02-16

ISSN :

1662-6370

HAL domain(s) :

Sciences de l'Homme et Société/Economies et finances

English abstract : [en]

This article examines factors that influence voters’ knowledge of their representatives, a key element in securing the responsiveness and accountability of parliamentarians. We argue that the parliamentary work of MPs ...
Show more >This article examines factors that influence voters’ knowledge of their representatives, a key element in securing the responsiveness and accountability of parliamentarians. We argue that the parliamentary work of MPs (Members of Parliament) benefits incumbents through increased name recall, and that this relationship is conditional on: the incumbents’ candidacy; the voters’ political competence; and their ideological proximity with their representatives. Combining data on French MPs’ activities with a 2007 CSES post‐election survey enables us to test our hypotheses, while controlling for confounding factors. The empirical analysis demonstrates that some parliamentary activities increase the voters’ capacity to recall the name of their MPs. The latter are therefore incentivised to be responsive to and serve their constituents. However, we also find that voters’ political competence and ideological proximity with their MP alter the relationship between parliamentary work and name recall. This may potentially introduce some biases in the democratic process of accountability.Show less >

Language :

Anglais

Popular science :

Non

ANR Project :

Comportements Politiques et Contrôle Citoyen

Collections :

• Lille Économie Management (LEM) - UMR 9221

Source :

Harvested from HAL